Welcome to the Spring Term from Mrs Thursby!

Now that the festivities are over, we can get back to our learning for 2022! We will be finding out all about the history of Britain from the Stone Age through to the Iron age  in our topic called Stig of the Dump. Using the book by Clive King, we will kick start our knowledge and find out all about the adventures of Barney and the new friend he accidentally comes across near a chalk pit. We will also use visual clips from a film which was made of this book to enhance our descriptive work in English. 

This topic will also include Science work about rocks and soil where we'll be doing lots of practical tests whilst observing and investigating. Here's hoping we can use this topic to satisfy our thirst for History and continue making fantastic progress in Year 3!

A Welcome Return for past pupils!

Our whole school were excited to welcome some former pupils back into school to do some hands on practical Science. The children absolutely loved getting stuck in to a variety of experiments such as creating chromatography flowers, magic milk and floating and sinking. Year 3 would like to thank the students for their hard work and for bringing in the microscopes. They were fascinated looking at the different cells! Thank you also from Mrs Thursby for making her feel very old as she fondly remembers teaching you...twice in fact!!!

A WOW DAY WITH ROCKS!

Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed their day with rocks! They were able to begin their science theme this term with lots of hands on learning getting to know all about rocks. They loved getting their hands dirty whilst going on an exciting rock hunt as well as observing and sorting rocks when they got back into the classroom. There was lots of talk and questioning and after doing some research about rocks they were able to have lots of fun painting a rock! This was such a great experience to help them get excited about their Science through this ter. Well done Year 3 and all the adults who made this day possible!

Rock Hunting!

Sorting and observing rocks!

Painting rocks!

We are mastering the 8 times table!

Please try this song at home to help you with your learning whilst getting active at the same time. Remember songs help us to learn facts!

Try the link below to get the song we have been doing in class.

FUN WITH SCIENCE!

We are kick starting our Spring Term with a whole school science experiment all about liquids. This will be fun and practical! We will make scientific predictions, record observations and take measurements before we draw our own conclusions. Without giving too much away...things will get very sticky!!!!!!!! 

Try the link below to dome fun scientific experiments at home that'll get you excited about science in your kitchen! Let me know if you try them...I'd love to hear all about it.

We loved getting messy with a Viscosity test!

We were surprised by some of the results in this test! The tomato sauce actually stopped completely!

Finishing our Shadows work from last term.

We explored shadows and why they form. We made our own shadow puppet and investigated what happened to the shadow when we moved the puppet and the torch. We made conclusions about this experiment too. Take a look at the fun we had playing with torches and creating fuzzy and clear shadows.

Year 3 loved this film exploring shadows!

Get started with the Stone Age!

Watch this video to get you thinking about this fascinating period of History!

Here's a song to help you begin...

Learn about Flint Knapping!

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Use this knowledge organiser to help you understand some of the key vocabulary needed for our topic. Read the key facts and start thinking about the areas you are interested in and would like to research.

READ TO LEARN!

Use these information posters to help you learn. They will get you thinking and help you in our lessons. 

INSPIRED BY A BOOK!

Our Science topic for the Spring Term is Rocks and Soil. During this unit of work we will be learning about different types of rocks and their properties. One of the books we will be reading to inspire our thinking is called The Street Beneath My Feet. This book's layout is exciting and will definitely get you asking scientific and geographical questions about what exactly does lie underneath the ground. 

Watch this trailer below and you'll be itching to get started on our Science for this term!

BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2022!

Love reading4 kids is a brilliant website that I'm always recommending you to go on. Below is a link to their preview of new books for 2022. Have a read and let me know if there are any books you like the look of and we can get them for our class library. 

Remember to keep up to date with their current top ten too!  

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT FOR JANUARY

For January our featured author is Joseph Coelho. He writes wonderful poetry as well as stories and has a variety of fantastic books to explore. One of my favourites is a book called Poems Aloud which encourages you to think about how you perform when reading out loud. Joseph Coelho does this in a very clever but fun way. There are lots of video clips available to inspire you. Take a look! 

ARTHUR AND THE GOLDEN ROPE

Year 3 have really enjoyed continuing with this story, which we began just before Christmas. It really is a fantastic narrative linked to the God of Thor. They loved exploring and finding out all about the main character Arthur and his journey to rescue his town. 

Enjoy the story below.

Transition Morning!

For one of our tasks we chose a favourite book to bring to Year 3. We created our own class book blanket of all our favourite books. There was a great deal of rich talk about books!

Here are some photos of the new Year 3 enjoying reading together for pleasure!

Year 3's Golden Book

In this section of Year 3's Web page we will feature very special work that has made it into our very special Golden Book. Your work has to be outstanding to be entered and I look forward to writing many entries this year. This book is about showing that you care about your work, going above and beyond and mastering something with true resilience. Remember Do your best so that we as a school can be our best!

OUTSTANDING WORK IN OUR GOLDEN BOOK!

Take a look at this outstanding work describing a dragon. Look out for the personification we have been learning about. Mrs Thursby was thrilled with the quality of the vocabulary. WELL DONE!!!

Wonderful Music Skills!

Have a look at this video which shows one of our class members mastering the cup game we have been working on. After learning the song we tried to use the cups to help us keep the beat of the song I've been to Harlem. This outstanding achievement was entered into our Golden Book. WOW!

GETTING STARTED WITH OUR TOPIC...

Who were the Vikings?

Find out about the Vikings, who lived in Britain over one thousand years ago. These Norse purate raiders eventually settled in Britain but still explored and travelled widely to trade all around the world. Their language is the origin for some surprising words, towns and cities too. Do you live in one of them or have one near where you live?

SPOT OUR OWN VICIOUS VIKINGS!

Come and enjoy our topic area of the classroom which is all ready for learning!

Learn historical facts through song!

Year 3 have been finding out about the Anglo-Saxon Kings. Their favourite is Alfred the Great! After reading to learn, they studied a variety of information texts and used their retrieval skills to gain knowledge.

Here is a song to help with their learning. Remember singing facts helps us remember even better!

READING ZONE!

CLASS LIBRARY

In the Year 3 classroom we have a class library with lots of books to choose from. This is where you can borrow books to take home as well as a space to read and enjoy books during the school day. Please remember to record your book title against your name in our reading record book. If you have any favourite authors you would like to see in our class library, please let me know and I'll do my best to find them for you. 

There is also a reading graffiti board esepcially for you to write your thoughts and messages about reading or any specific books you have read. 

Sit back and enjoy our reading space. There really is nothing better than losing yourself in a book!  

BOOK OF BOOKS

This is a very special reading journal that we use to show our reading journey through the year. Look inside and you will find out about the books we have read and enjoyed. Our thoughts and ideas will be displayed as well as the searching questions we will ask about characters and settings. We will keep you posted with how this book is doing through the year. For now...here is our front cover ready for the new academic year!

CLASS READER-AUTUMN TERM

This term our class reader is How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. Look at this amazing book trailer to get a flavour of what's to come when we start reading!

Something exciting...!

Look at what happened when Year 3 found a mysterious package...

Imagine a world of dragons...

Listen to Cressida Cowell read the prologue to How to Train Your Dragon. We will be using this for some of our reading fluency. It's great to hear the author of the book read aloud! Get some tips for how to read expressively!

ACTIVITY PACK FROM CRESSIDA COWELL

Try some of these activities at home.

READING FOR PLEASURE!

This section is here to support your reading at home and give you inspiration to read for pleasure, try new authors, books and just love reading!

CREATING YOUR OWN READING RIVER

This really helps you realise just how much you read in a short space of time! Look at our wonderful creative reading rivers in Year 3! 

Mrs Thursby is currently reading...

At  the moment I am reading a really exciting book by P.G.Bell. Check out the author because there are several exciting titles to read as well as this one! I would love to have a conversation with you about this book. Feel free to ask me!

Books I recommend...

AUTHORFY!

The link below takes you to a brilliant website to try. It has some fantastic resources linked to up to date books and videos made by lots of different authors. This is a place you can go to and try reading extracts of books and be inspired to try new books and authors you may not have heard of.

Below are some resources I have downloaded for you but try it for yourself. You will love it! 

WRITING FOR PLEASURE ZONE!

Year 3 have learned how to write a MORERAPS poem in class and are now asking to write another version at home! Use the video below to inspire you. Remember get yourself a writer's notebook at home and jot down words you come across. You can write about anything! Remember...good writers notice things around them and jot ideas down for later.

National Poetry Day!

To celebrate National Poetry Day, Mrs Thursby read a variety of poems to Year 3 at the end of the day. They really enjoyed poems by Joseph Coelho and Spike Milligan but their absolute favourite by far was a poem called Chocolate Cake by Michael Rosen. They laughed and laughed and laughed! 

Try reading these extracts!

MATHS PRACTICE!!!

One of the hardest parts of our Year 3 Place Value Unit is learning how to place 3 digit numbers on a blank number lines to 100. We have done it in class many times and it is something that woud really benefit from some support at home. Try this game we have been playing and loving in class.   

TIMES TABLES ZONE!

LEARNING TABLES WITH A COUNTING STICK!

In Year 3 we will be using the counting stick to really get out tables facts to stick. This method helps us to understand the Maths behind the sequence of numbers and how to use doubling, halving and what we already know to help us. 

In Year 2 all children should know their 2's 5's and 10 times tables off by heart. In Year 3, we have to learn the 3 4 and 8 times tables to begin with. Watch the video on the 3 times table to help you get ready for some fun with the counting stick in our classroom this term!

SONGS TO HELP WITH TIMES TABLES!

RECAP X2 X5 X10 -DAILY PRACTICE

PRACTISE YOUR 3 4 AND 8 TIMES TABLES!

WORDS HAVE POWER!

In Year 3 vocabulary is at the heart of everything we do. We will learn a wide range of new vocabulary whilst beginning to understand the meaning of words, how words are made up, spelt and where they come from. The children will become excited about words whatever subject we are covering and I will be introducing them to a site called Word Hippo. This is somewhere they can go to find out about new words they come across at home too. Have a look for yourself and get studying those new words!

ACTIVE SPELLING ZONE!

Each week Year 3 will be learning a different spelling rule. We will be working on these spellings every day so if you wanted to support your child and practise them at home each star provides a list of our focus words. There is no formal test but any consolidation is helpful to embed these spellings. The lists are also very useful to recap any previous learning. 

AUTUMN TERM SPELLING

Spring Term Spelling

FUN WITH SINGING!!!

We are really enjoying our Music in Term 1 and are learning a song called I've been to Harlem. Our challenge is to try and learn the cup game that goes wth it over the next few weeks. The video below might just help you practise at home! Find  a plastic cup and have a go!

An Amazing Harvest Day!

Year 3 really enjoyed a wonderful day of outdoor learning to celebrate the amazing season of Autumn. They participated in several activities linked to nature and were inspired by the book Leaf Man. They completed a scavenger hunt, identfied all kinds of different leaves, created super art work with leaves and used thier environment to create clay faces and characters. The day finished with a delicious hot chocolate and a reflection of all that they had achieved. Although it rained for some parts of the day this didn't put them off and they loved being in the outdoors! 

CLAY FACES!

LEAF ART!

ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS!

DRAGON EYE PROJECT!

Year 3 have begun an art project inspired by Dragon eyes. They have started exploring their drawing skills and have recorded their thoughts and ideas in their sketch book pages. Take a look! 

WOW....LOOK AT OUR CLAY DRAGON EYES!

After all their work exploring dragon eyes, Year 3 began designing their clay dragon eye. They worked hard to produce a design they were happy with and then carefully moulded the clay in the shape of an eye. They used a variety of tools to make marks in the clay and loved using eyeshadow to give the clay colour. We hope you agree that they've done an outstanding job! Mrs Thursby was so proud of their finished work.  

Pop Up Christmas Cards!

Take a look at our Christmas DT project. Year 3 worked so hard to explore pop up techniques and then designed their own card. We hope their families enjoyed receiving these quality cards this Christmas!

Fantastic work at home!

Thank you to everyone for their super effort with their Viking homework project. The children showed their enthusiasm for researching various themes from Viking boats to delicious food and wonderful jewellery. Their work was amazing!

SIMPLE COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES!

In year 3 we are working hard to perfect our understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences. We have been enjoying picking out these sentences in texts in our Active English lessons. Here's a video to help you remember at home if you forget. Maybe you could try writing your own examples!